SA’s Motsepe Elected CAF President

PATRICE Motsepe, South African billionaire and owner of giants Mamelodi Sundowns is the new president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This was after all three candidates that were to challenge him for the post this Friday withdrew from the race and declared their support for Motsepe’s candidature.

Mauritania Ahmed Yahya was the last to withdraw on Saturday night following two other candidates who had announced their pulling out earlier in Senegalese Augustine Senghor and Ivorian Jacques Anouma.

Senghor and Yahya have been tipped to become Motsepe’s first and second vice-presidents respectively while Anouma would assume a new role of special advisor to the president according to reports.

CAF’s image has been marred by financial scandals and the outgoing president, Ahmad Ahmad, was suspended for five years by FIFA in November on suspicion of corruption. 

He was temporarily reinstated in his functions by a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at the end of January.

The Malagasy was heard in one of the matters on March 2 and 3 by CAS and is now waiting to know the verdict of the supreme body in sports disputes.

Ahmad was poised to run for a second term but saw his candidacy rejected. A better image of CAF after all that has happened.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has long been accused of favouring Motsepe, has denied interfering in the CAF elections.

Motsepe becomes the first English speaking candidate from the COSAFA region to assume the leadership of the continental football governing body since its inception in 1957.

His election however complicates the candidature of six other candidates from the COSAFA aspiring for the only remaining FIFA executive council seat for the English speaking region.

FAZ president Andrew Kamanga is one of the aspirants for the FIFA council seat but it remains to be seen if other regions would vote for another COSAFA member for the seat. Malawi’s Walter Nyamilandu is another aspirant from the COSAFA region.

The scandal-hit CAF is in dire need of financial reforms and Motsepe has a huge task ahead of him to attract new sponsors.

This article originally appeared on The Mast